Portable roadway



A. C. LUETGERT AND E. H. MEIKLEJOHN.

PORTABLE RoA'nwAY. APPLICATION FILED MAR 3l, 192|.

1,422,28Q Patented July 11i, 1922..

l@ Q er' al J5 I I INVENTOR .RNOLD C. LUETGERT .AND ERNESTH. MEIKLIEJOHN, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD TO RALPH ID. BRO'WN, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON,

PORTABLE ROADWAY.

iaeaeao.

Specification of' Letters Patent.

Patented July lil, i922.

Application ledarch 3l., 1921. eial No. 457,167.

To @ZZ whom t may concern Be it known that we, ARNOLD C. Lun'rcrnr permanent roads for the most part. Such operations frequently require the `hauling of a small number of heavy timbers from anisolated area, at times over considerablev distances, and frequently over very rough, broken, or muddy ground. it is a considerable expense to prepare good roads into such remote and unsettled country, for their only use is to enable the hauling of the timbers from a restricted area, after which the roads 'are generally useless. Lacking good roads over which the timbers:V maybe hauled by motor equipment,they -must either be cut smaller, to be handled by horses, or they must Abe brought out by cable apparatus,

' whichis `expensive in rst cost and in operation, to the great damage of the timber being handled, and the standing timberas well. f

It isl evident that if a road Vcould be made quickly, easily, and inexpensively, without considerable preliminary levelingl or other preparation, which would enable the use of heavymotor equipment, and which was made of elements which permit it to con- Y formato the general contour of the surface,

making fills, and in- Our invention comprises those novel parts and combinations thereof which are shown in the accompanying drawings, described in the specificationand particularly dened by the claims terminating the same.

in the accompanying drawings we have shown our invention in a form which is now preferred by us, the same being illustrative of one manner in which the device may be made.

Figure l is a plan view of portions of several sections of roadway, sho-wing a straightaway and a curve.

Figure 2is a perspective illustrating the preferred manner of securing the roadway elements together.

rl'he roadway is formed of short sections constructed in a manner to be later described more particularly, which may be secured t0- gether, and which may be taken up and laid down easily wherever it may be desired to locate a. roadway. The individual sections are formed of beams l laid side by side, and connected by a flexible member, suchV as a cable 2. The various sections are secured in such manner that they may be attached together and detached quickly. The section is suihciently flexible to ride over considerable inequalities in the surface and is broad enough so thatit will not sink under a considerable load even in soft mud.

The individual sections are formed of a series of beams l laid side by side.y These may be of a width only to support a single wheel, as illustrated by the sections: l0, two such sections being laid side by side for the wheels at opposite sides of a vehicle, or the roadway elements may extend entirely across the width of the road to be laid, as illustrated by the sections il. The shorter elements are adapted for use on straightaways, although it is evident that the longer elements may be used here if desired. These shorter elements will require less preliminary leveling prior to their laying than will longer elements, and they will be more flexible and conform more readily to the surface. The longer elements, however, will provide a broader foundation, and are particularly desirable for use in curves, where the rear wheels of a truck, or the wheels of a trailer, will not track with the front wheels.

The beams l are secured together in some suitable manner as by a cable 2. As shown in Figure 2 the cable 2 passes through each of the beams 1, through two spaced holes 12, preferably near the ends of the beam. The cable runs first through the holes 12 at one end of all the beams in a section and then returns through the other series of holes. v

rather that they be secured at one of the intermediate beams. "We prefer to secure them in a peculiar manner, as illustrated in Figure 2, wherein each end 20 of the cable is passed through a single beam from opposite sides, and is then brought around to the outer end of the beam, where both ends are secured under a single clamp 91 suitably secured to the end of the beam. fl`he beam may be cut away as shown at 18 to permit manipulation of the ends 20.

At the ends of the sections we provide a single beam 14 which is somewhat longer than the intermediate beams and which is bored to receive a bolt 15 by which adjoin* ing sections may be clamped together. lt may be found desirable, at the ends of the sections, to join parallel sections by a connecting beam 16 extending between the two sections and clamped in place as bythe bolts 15'. Such connecting beams may be employed centrally of the sections if this is found desirable, 'and but one such beam 16 need be employed where two sections are joined. Such Connecting beams 16 are, of course, unnecessary in the sections 11 where the beams 1 extend entirely across the width of the roadwayand where sections 10 are joined to sections 11.

It is evident that widely varying embodiments of our invention may be used without departing from the scope thereof. We do not desire to limit ourselves to the construe tion described other than as limited by the appended claims. y

Vhat we claim as our invention is:

i 1. A portable sectional roadway, each section consisting of a series of beams placed side by side and a flexible `cable passing -through all said beams toA hold them together.

2. A portable surfacing for roads composed of short sections each consisting of a series of beams placed side by side and hav ing a hole passing through each near each end thereof, and a cable passing through the holes in one end of all the beams and back through the holes in the other end of all the beams and with its ends relatively fixed.

3. A portable surfacing for roads composed of short sections each consisting of a series of'beams vplaced side by side and having `a hole passing through each `near each end thereof, and a cable passing through the holes in one end of all the beams and back through the holes in the other end of all the beams, said ends meeting away from the ends of the section, and means for securing said ends to permit adjustment.

4:. A portable `surfacing for roads composed of short sections each consisting of a series of beams placed side by side-and having a hole passing through each near each end thereof, and a cable `passing through the holes in one endnof all thebeams and back through the holes in the other end of all the beams, thefends of the cable meeting inward from the ends of the' section and both pass ing through one beam and brought to the outside and means for securing saidends.`

5. A portable sectional roadway, each section consisting of a series of 'beams placed side by side and a flexible cable passing through all said beams to hold them to-` gether, the end beams of each section being longer than the others to project their ends, and securing bolts passing throughsaid prof jecting ends to` secure adjacent sections together. y .i

6. lA portable surfacing, for roads lcom,- posed of short sections each consisting of a series of beams lplaced side by `side and each having two spaced holes therethrough, a cable passing through one hole of eachfbeam and back through the other hole in'all of the beams, and means for securing thev ends of said cable. l

Signed at Seattle, King County, Washington, this 17th day of December, '1920. ARNOLD C. LUETGERT. ERNEST H.MEIKLEJOHN. 

